Criminal libel repealed in Colorado

The governor has signed SB-102 to repeal criminal libel. Supported by the Attorney General as well as journalism associations and the ACLU, the repeal will make Colorado similar to the vast majority of states in which libel is a purely civil crime that is subject to First Amendment protections.

Hooray! Even though my case was uppermost in my thoughts in supporting this bill, the testimony from the Attorney General’s office pointing out that 24 people have been charged with criminal libel since 2007 shows that this was a much-abused law that absolutely needed to be repealed.